Southampton supporters heading to Wembley this Saturday face major travel disruption, with engineering work set to severely reduce train services between Woking and Basingstoke.
South Western Railway (SWR) is urging fans to consider alternative travel plans ahead of the club’s semi-final against Manchester City on 25 April.
Long-planned, safety-critical work will close the line between Woking and Basingstoke throughout the weekend. As a result, only a limited number of direct trains will run between Southampton and London, and journey times will be longer than usual.
The work, scheduled since 2024, includes refurbishing key track components at Farnborough, power upgrades near Woking, and signalling and maintenance improvements in Winchfield. Engineers say the project must be completed before summer to avoid speed restrictions and wider disruption across the network.
Rail bosses confirmed there were no viable alternative dates for the work before at least 2027 without significant additional cost.
Southampton have already sold out their allocation of 33,000 tickets for the Wembley clash, but rail operators warn extra services will not be enough to meet demand.
A small number of trains will still run, diverted via Havant, but these services will take longer and are expected to be extremely busy.
Passengers travelling from Southampton Central will need to queue for the next available train, while stations including Fareham, Havant, Clapham Junction and London Waterloo are also expected to see heavy congestion.
Supporters are also being warned that return services after 8pm are very limited, which could cause further problems if the match goes to extra time or penalties. Fans are advised to allow extra time when travelling across London to and from Wembley Stadium.
Stuart Meek, Chief Operating Officer at SWR and Network Rail Wessex, said the disruption was unavoidable.
He said the work is essential for the safe and reliable running of the railway and cannot be postponed. He added that while the company understands how important the match is for supporters, passengers should plan ahead, expect longer journeys, and consider other ways to travel.
SWR has apologised for the disruption and wished Southampton well as they look to repeat their famous FA Cup success of 1976.
